Once the Chinese fans texted Kobe Bryant‘s team a 29-point hole, it was go time. That’s not quite the scenario you expect when you think of Kobe coming to the rescue, or any of his biggest crunch-time exploits that required his saving. But Sunday in Shanghai, in a celebrity all-star game where most of the players were singers, Bryant went off like his 81-spot against Toronto in ’06. OK, some context for that first sentence: Bryant was taking in part a promotional game for one of his sponsors during his tour of China and enjoying himself, according to his Facebook post Sunday about the event. Then, through a fan engagement scenario that seems straight out of SlamBall, fans sent enough texts to put one team 29 points down instead of nine. Read More »

Rudy Fernandez won’t be playing in the NBA this year, which means he had to empty his bag of tricks during the Olympics if he was going to use them on a global scale. What better place to pull off one of the worst flops (though effective) in the whole tournament than the gold-medal game against Team USA? In a game where both the Spanish and Americans had legitimate gripes about officiating, Fernandez’s over-the-top way of drawing a foul on Andre Iguodala summed up the night. Read More »

The Olympics are always a bit of a wild card given that teams are almost always cobbled together just a matter of weeks before the Opening Ceremonies. The momentum gained from world championships or FIBA’s qualifying tournaments means little when most teams have been disbanded for months. The unheralded players who toil playing overseas the rest of the year add seasoning to the mix as another unknown. Take, for example, Tunisia. How much tape could Coach K have dug up on Makram Ben Romdhane? What hasn’t been a surprise is the U.S. dominance; no matter how many perceived weaknesses the team has, there are more ways to cover up the cracks than any other team can match. What has caught our eye, however, are these five surprises. Read More »

It seems like Baron Davis is up to a lot of weird stuff this offseason. Last time we saw him, he was throwing basketballs at New Yorkers that weren’t paying attention. Today, Davis has resurfaced alongside his alter ego, Baron Davies, an Olympic reporter. Read More »

Russell Westbrook, to some, is part of the new breed of guards who can attack the rim like a forward but with all the handle of a point. The more I watch him in international play this summer I have to seriously consider what kind of nightmare Westbrook and Derrick Rose together would have caused because they stand apart as their own breed of guard. I know one thing: If John Stockton — unquestionably the best “conventional” point of all time (Magic gets his own category) — made highlights like this in Barcelona he wouldn’t have been invisible in the 1992 crowds. Read More »

It was never a secret U.S. vs. Nigeria was never going to be close. The betting line grew to 42 points before the game, which seemed like it could be high even for a mismatch like this, the best team in the world against the team making its Olympic debut. First, the Team USA was totally off-mark shooting from the short international three-point line, a trend that looked worse with a pretty sluggish start to the first quarter against Tunisia. Then, you figured Nigeria was going to play inspired in its Olympic debut against the U.S. It turns out the line was ridiculous Read More »

Ninety-nine times out of 100, any day Team USA plays during the Olympics is a day Team USA owns the global basketball spotlight. But thanks to France and Argentina, yesterday was that one other time. Their matchup marked the first time Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had ever played against each other, and if that’s the kind of game we’re going to get whenever they’re opponents, we wouldn’t mind TP or Manu getting traded before the NBA season starts … In the pound-for-pound best game of the London Games so far, Parker led France to a 71-64 upset with a gutsy fourth-quarter performance that he put together after not being able to buy a bucket all day. Read More »

Naturally, the players on Team USA are used to playing in large arenas where fans want to be as close to the game as possible. It’s not the case that fans’ attitudes at the Olympics are any different. Fans just physically aren’t able to sit courtside. That distance, it turns out, is slightly throwing off the team’s shooting eye. Read More »

Kevin Durant got off two nice dunks early in Sunday’s Olympic debut win over France, first coming when his defenders expected him to take another step and he skied instead for a dunk in the lane on the break. That was nice. His second highlight on this clip was even nicer, with all credit due to LeBron James‘ insane bounce pass. Read More »

Coach K looked for a reason to knock Team USA’s win over France in both teams’ Olympic debuts Sunday. He said they overpassed — as if 27 dimes on 31 buckets is a bad thing. Kevin Durant (22 points, 9 boards) led the squad and had a nasty dunk in the first quarter where he looked like he was about to take a Euro step from inside the free throw line and threw it down over two defenders instead. He kept the ball high over the top so they couldn’t swipe at it and it’s not far from there to the rim when you’re KD’s length. Read More »